A Chance Encounter
by millie-mione
Summary: Two former rivals come face to face. Can they release their skeletons, or are they both doomed to remain trapped? A sequel to 'Sleeping With The Past.' These characters are J.K. Rowling's and Jill Murphy's.


Petunia had just seen Vernon and Dudley off at the airport. She bumped into someone, and her purse fell. The man that she bumped into grabbed the handbag and raced for the exit. Petunia screamed and flailed her arms signaling for help.  
  
The man had almost made it to the exit when a woman who wore a black bun pulled out her finger discreetly and zapped him.  
  
"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!" he screamed. The jolt that hit him was a small but uncomfortable one.  
  
The woman approached Petunia and handed her back her purse. "Here you are Ms.-----"  
  
"Dursley. Petunia Dursley." she answered before looking up and saying "Constance---"  
  
"Petunia? Is that really you"?  
"Yes, it is. It's been like forever since I've seen you.Let me buy you a cup of coffee;it's the least I can do."  
  
"Why didn't you stop that thief yourself"?  
  
"I don't practice magic anymore;because,I'm married to a common man, and he doesn't know that I am a witch. Plus, the English ministry of magic is so strict. I wouldn't be permitted to do half the things that I really specialized in without being cited or fined for this or that. I remember when I tried to practice my spells at the first Christmas break at home from Cackles. An owl sent my sister Lily a warning from the ministry of magic accusing her of working the three spells that I used. She was absolutely livid with me. Another reason I don't use magic is that Lily's boy Harry lives with me now, and he would get into trouble for my spell use like Lily did, since I'm not registered, and he is."  
  
"This must all be very complicated for you" Constance said with a pondering frown on her face."Honestly speaking,I always thought that we were similar in our personalities and goals. Which , if you'll forgive me leads me to say that I never thought that you would turn out to be the domestic type, no disparagement intended. I always thought that you would go on to be a national expert in the potions field. "  
  
"To tell you the truth,I thought that 'you' would be the expert. I won that competition by a fluke. You were the true potions ace. May I ask what 'you're' doing now"?Petunia intoned trying to redirect the conversation. She felt so compelled to be honest around Constance. But she really didn't want to spill anymore of her business so freely.  
  
"I teach potions to silly and distracted girls at your old Alma Mater. I'm preparing to return there from my sabbatical."  
  
"You teach at Cackles"?Petunia asked laughingly in disbelief.She always thought that Constance would take over her aunt's training college.  
  
"Yes, and I am also the Deputy Headmistress there.You know, I miss our school days. We were never as difficult to control or keep focused as are the kids of this current generation."   
  
"I know what you mean. Sometimes I wish that I could just go back in time and relive my adolescence too. People were so respectful then. I felt so strong and confident as a witch. Many days I wish I could bite my own finger off for becoming a 'bored housewife.' I wish that I had at least chosen to become a teacher like you, no disparagement intended here either. I'd at least be able to exercise my talent. But the question arises of how I'd explain my long absences to my husband, Vernon. He'd accuse me of 'ignoring the needs of' and 'abandoning' our son Dudley."She said moving her head in an exaggerating fashion as she said each word.  
  
"Why don't you just tell him the truth, Petunia? I'm sure that he knows enough of your personality to trust you by now."  
  
"You sound just like Lily, Constance. I'd do it if I knew that it would only shock him and that he'd later adjust to the news,but you see, my nephew Hary attends Hogwarts, and my husband hates Harry. I can't say that I have been any better to Harry than Vernon has." Petunia confessed all the sordid details of Her and her husband's abuse of Harry and started crying. It was all out in the open now. She was waiting for Constance to come down hard upon her.  
  
" Petunia,don't cry. It is not up to me or to anyone else to judge your decisions or to tell you what to do with your marriage, but it just appears to me that you feel repressed being married to this Vernon. I only advised you to be open earlier so that it would lighten your emotional burden. Now, listen to me, as someone who knew you briefly, long ago, I know that a part of you still thirsts to prove yourself. That part has never died. I can see it in your dissatisfaction at your not being able to play an active part in witch life by investing in your talents. If you don't want to tell your husband, at least register with the ministry of magic, so that you can begin practicing again."  
  
"Harry will think of me as a hypocrite. You see, we've always made him feel as if he were a freak for being magical. Now, I know that you must definitely despise me , but please, understand me; I'd do anything to keep my life as perfect as it has been. I know that your advice to register with the ministry is correct, but right now it's just too dangerous.Why just last summer, Harry told me that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back. Don't you see? Everything will go from paradise to hell in a handbasket."  
  
"Well I hate to be cynical and burst your bucolic bubble , but if you remember the former times in which The Dark Lord reigned, you understand that you're in just as much or even more danger living as a common person as you are being a magical person who comes out in the open to fight."  
  
"I 'know'. I feel like such a coward. Lily and many others died fighting, and I deserted them in their time of need. Maybe Fate knew what type of person I'd turn out to be, so that's why she gave Lily the better of everything when you compare between us and the way that our liveshave turned out."  
  
" Petunia, don't be so hard on yourself. Take this chance to redeem yourself. Make peace with your nephew, and register yourself with the ministry. You are not awful, in fact you're a good person who has made a few mistakes,but youare now being given the chance to correct them. Do what you can to fight. Do so, not only because you'll be proving yourself,but do it;because, you'll also be helping to protect your family."  
  
After reflecting upon Constance's advice Petunia nodded in agreement and said "yes, I will take your advice and go to register."  
  
The airline intercom had announced that the plane for Constance to return to Canada had began boarding. The twohugged and said their farewells. Both women felt their strength return as each left the other. Petunia knew what she had to do when she got home to her nephew who she locked in his bedroom. Constance knew that she had to finally put Heckitty's poisonous voice and her jealousy of Petunia to rest. She had fared far better in comparison to her former rival of years long past. Heckitty was wrong. She 'did' become the girl who did,not the girl who could have done. She felt silly for spending all her personal time letting Heckitty's corrosive words bedevil her. (After all, "Heckitty the great" wore armor that was not indestructible either. Now that Constance thought about it, her aunt was bested by a weakling like Sybil Hallow.) For the first time in years, Constance felt at ease. Perhaps, with her new found release, she could return the favor to her pupils and learn to lighten up a bit on them......with a little time that is.


End file.
